As Times Flies
by lil-hermione-at-heart
Summary: Listen to Oh How the Years Go By by Amy Grant After spending six years of school with Harry Potter, Hermione lets her mind drift to what she really thought about him. Sitting alone in a tent as Harry stands watch outside, what does her mind and heart discover?


**Chapter One**

She sat alone at the picnic like table in the nicely sized tent that she had managed to find for their journey to finding horcruxes. Letting out a long sigh, she let her eyes drift to the silhouette of the boy who was currently standing guard outside.

She had spent six and a half long years with this boy now man that she knew better than she knew herself. Spent countless hours helping him through the torture of a life that was given to him, battling whatever was in front of them at the time; everything from scary beasts to the dark lord himself. Even now she was sitting in a tent in the middle of nowhere after wiping her parents memories and sending them to Australia and Ron running off all so she could come hunt old objects with bits of evil soul stored inside them with him.

But even though it was hard to not think of all the bad times they had been through when they were sitting smack in the middle of yet another one, she forced herself to think of all the fun and amazing times the popped up in between the bad.

Her mind travelled back to her first year when she was hiding under the sink in the girls bathroom when two boys came charging in to save her from the troll that was smashing everything to bits. Then to second year when she was sprinting down the aisle between the tables of the Great Hall and into Harry's arms after being petrified. Then third year when she and Harry were running holding hands from Lupin turned werewolf, they were finally cornered and Harry pulled her into him and turned his back to the crazed animal. She never forgot how he had put himself right into the line of fire to protect her.

Directly followed by fourth year, where everything just fell apart but there still managed to be some semblance of happiness when she threw herself into the tent just so she could hug him and hold him before he was forced to face a dragon. In fifth year, the feeling of his hand in hers when she took hold of it only to see scares and cuts covering the back. But just the thought of the warm roughness of his hands sent tingles up her spine. Then their final year at Hogwarts, when she was so distraught by what she thought was loss of love with Ron, Harry found her and wrapped her in his arms comforting her, just so she could feel like everything was alright.

She suddenly felt guilty for all the times she'd ever even slightly doubted him or even been mad, whether she had the right to be or not. She'll never forget the time in their fourth year before the tournament had even started that she had been so caught up with Ron that she didn't even think about how she was treating Harry, then yelling at him all because she wanted to side with Ron instead of him. She hated to admit to herself that there were times where their relationship had stumbled. But she gladly thought of how they never stayed down for long, they always got things back together again.

She gathered herself enough to drag herself over to her bed and plop down on it. Sighing again, she turned to lie on her stomach so she could still see his silhouette cast on the fabric of the tent. As the wind tossed the front flaps open a bit, she could see the moonlight intensifying his features. The black mop of shaggy black hair seemed to glow and the light cast a slight contrast on the side of his face. As he breathed out, she could see the fog from the heat of it rise in front of him.

She turned her head away, closing her eyes. At this point, she didn't know what she thought of Harry anymore. But did it matter? She didn't know what he thought of her either. She sat up and switched on the radio just as a song was starting. In response to the noise, Harry poked his head in and glanced in her direction. Sitting there on the stairs, she watched as he stepped into the tent and slowly walked over to her.

Confusion was probably etched on her face when he held his hand out to her, causing him to reach down and take both of her hands in his as he pulled her to the center of the tent. Pulling her closer to him, he led her in a small circle, slowly dancing to the tune. She rested her hand on his shoulder, breathing in the nature scent of him and taking in the feel of his arms wrapped around her. It was there, dancing in the middle of the tent to a song she barely knew in the middle of nowhere did she realize what Harry Potter meant to her.

She tightened her arms around his shoulders and buried her face into the side of his neck. She knew that even though this man had brought her a majority of the trials and terrible situations that she had faced in her young life, she also knew that she wouldn't trade them for anything. No amount of safety could be offered to her that would make her walk away from him.

She knew that the years that had passed and the many years that were to come would be spent with Harry. Just the thought of all the great times that were yet to come brought tears to her eyes. In that moment, it didn't matter that they were hunting horcruxes or about to have to fight down the most powerful and evil wizard ever or that there were most likely many more deaths in front of them. All that mattered to Hermione was that she was there, with Harry, and that she wasn't going to let anything take him away from her.

Even though it was because of him that she had seen so many battles, it was also because of him that she was alive. So many times had he protected and saved her that she couldn't even count. He was always there for her; through everything. That was something she would never forget. Pulling back a bit as the song ended, keeping her arms around him, she looked him straight in the face, starring into the most gorgeous emerald green eyes.

In a whisper so quite that for a second she wasn't quite sure he heard her she said, "I love you." It wasn't until the sparkle that she hadn't seen in months returned to his eyes and a small smile spread on his lips did she know he had heard.

"I love you too, 'Mione."


End file.
